SIGFOX OPENS HACKING HOUSE PARIS TO NURTURE NEXT GENERATION OF IOT EXPERTS


Paris, June 18, 2019 – Sigfox, a pioneer in the 0G network and the world’s leading provider of connectivity solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), announces the opening of its fourth Hacking House, this summer in Paris, following previous initiatives in San Francisco, Taipei and Chicago. In this latest edition, six teams will aim to design solutions that address important logistical, technical or societal issues using IoT solutions and Sigfox’s 0G network.

The six teams, from around the world, will work on the development of their project at Sigfox’s offices in Paris from 11 June to 30 August 2019. The challenge here is twofold: to train a new generation of experts in IoT technologies, and to develop new IoT solutions to address different kinds of problems. With this in mind, participants will have the support of Sigfox mentors to help them successfully develop their project.

At the end of the 3 months working on their various projects, which will include several phases of exchanges with partners, design thinking, prototyping and testing, the six teams will present the results of their work to a jury made up of investors, clients and experts, who will consider the production and availability of their solutions in market.

“I first discovered Sigfox when I started my entrepreneurial career in 2016 and had the chance to work as a co-founder of a start-up in the IoT space. Participating in this Hacking House is, for me, an opportunity to explore and understand Sigfox technology in depth, but above all to work on a project from A to Z, from architecture development to prototyping, to the presentation of the final render. This will certainly improve not only my technical skills, but also my business skills in general. I am very excited about my Hacking House adventure.” said Biswajeet Kar, a member of one of the six teams.

Those participating are mostly students, and some are already entrepreneurs too, with others just starting out in the entrepreneurial field. They are divided into teams of 2 or 3 and have been assigned the following projects:

       1. The first team is composed of a Brazilian student from Polytechnique and a Chinese student from Paris Diderot, one an expert in algorithmics and the other in language processing. They will be accompanied by Olivier Isson, Data Science expert at Sigfox. Together, they are tasked with finding a way to use the Sigfox network as a back-up network to send SMS messages, in situations where traditional networks no longer work (in the event of a natural disaster, for example).

      2. The second team is made up of a Moroccan student from ENSEA, a French student from Polytech Sorbonne and a French student from HKUST. They will work on a project in the

field of logistics control for the Total group and will be supported by Hichem Zaafouri from Sigfox’s IoT Agency.

      3. The third team consists of a Brazilian student from EISEE and a Chinese student from ISEN. Together, they will look to create an energy autonomous water meter. Their mentors will be Cyril Jouanlanne from Sigfox’s IoT Agency and Nicolas Chalbos from Sigfox R&D.

      4. The fourth team is made up of Indian students from ISEP and Polytechnique. Their mentor will be Clément Mannequin from the IoT Agency and their mission to find a solution to offer better assistance and supervision of TV set-top boxes and Internet routers, using a USB key connected to Sigfox’s 0G network.

      5. The fifth team comprises two young Croatian entrepreneurs, accompanied by Pauline Pham from the Sigfox Foundation. They will seek to use IoT technology to monitor high-risk flood areas and alert the municipality and local population in the event of a disaster.

      6. The sixth team is made up of a group of French ETNA students who were spotted winning a Hackathon with their idea of monitoring water quality to prevent pollution, especially in Africa. Sigfox is now offering them mentoring to help launch their start-up. They will be accompanied on their adventure by Pauline Pham of the Sigfox Foundation and Maxime Schacht, Business Operation Manager at Sigfox.

Raouti Chehih, Chief Adoption Officer at Sigfox, said: “Today, Sigfox’s 0G network offers tremendous opportunities that will ultimately enable us to meet important economic, environmental and social challenges. To do this, it is sometimes necessary to develop applications that use this network and reinforce its impact in the real world. This is the purpose of our Hacking House: to participate in the new Internet and prepare the next generation of IoT. By generation, I mean that of the users of connected objects but also those who design them. With the opening of its fourth Hacking House, Sigfox is reinforcing its commitment to training individuals in the service of technological innovation.”

Sigfox’s Hacking House partners include: IMT Starter, Soracom, ST Microeletronics, Télécom ParisTech Entrepreneurs and Wisebatt.

The launch of Hacking House Paris comes just a few days after the Taiwan edition came to a close, ending on June 11 in Taipei. The final presentation of the participants’ projects was made in the presence of Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Technology and Fleur Pellerin, former French Minister and French Tech initiator. Click here for more information about Hacking House Taipei: https://thehackinghouse.com/taiwan/

About Sigfox

Sigfox is the initiator of the 0G network and the world’s leading IoT (Internet of Things) service provider. Its global network allows billions of devices to connect to the Internet, in a straightforward way, while consuming as little energy

as possible. Sigfox unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption and global scalability.

Today, the network is available in 60 countries, with 1 billion people covered. ISO 9001 certified and surrounded by a large ecosystem of partners and IoT key players, Sigfox empowers companies to move their business model towards more digital services, in key areas such as Asset Tracking and Supply Chain. Founded in 2010 by Ludovic Le Moan and Christophe Fourtet, the company is headquartered in France, and also has offices in Madrid, Munich, Boston, Dallas, San Jose, Dubai, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.